


Angel

by ThirtySixSaveFiles



Series: RSVP [7]
Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, minor reference to past drinking problem, serious impugning of Rhys' cooking skills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 14:06:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6522910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirtySixSaveFiles/pseuds/ThirtySixSaveFiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first serious disagreement that Rhys and Jack have is about Jack’s daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Here we continue on the domestic fluff train. Also thank you to [jillus](http://jillus.tumblr.com) for getting me unstuck when I had ONE LINE left to go.
> 
> Note for those following along: today I went back and made some minor edits to _Table for Two_ and _The Favor of Your Reply_ for remove references to Jack drinking alcohol to smooth out the continuity. The needed edits were extremely minor, as it turns out, and doesn't significantly change what has come before.

The first serious disagreement that Rhys and Jack have - beyond who gets to pick the movie (Rhys usually wins) or whose car to take (Jack’s stubborn about this) -  is about Jack’s daughter.

Rhys wants to meet her. “We’ve been dating for how long now? And I never see her.”

Jack stomps down on his first response, which is  _ that’s because  _ I  _ never see her _ , because if he says that, he’ll have to think about whose fault that is, and he’s gotten pretty good at not thinking about that. Instead he mumbles something about school schedules and extracurricular activities, and how the restaurant keeps him busy, and doesn’t look at Rhys while he does it.

Rhys doesn’t buy it for a second. “Uh-huh.” He points at the fridge. “That’s why you’ve got a post-it that says ‘Angel, 17th - 20th.’ ”

Damn it. Jack glares at the note as if it has personally betrayed him (it has), and takes a swig of the soda in his hand to stall for time while he scrambles for something to say.

It’s not that he doesn’t want Rhys to meet Angel. Angel is the one thing that Jack’s done right in his life; she’s everything that’s good about him, and of  _ course _ he wants to share that with Rhys. He does.

It’s just. It’s just that-

Angel hasn’t seen him at his worst, thank god, but what she did see was bad enough. And who knows what she’s heard from her mother’s family. All Jack knows is that his daughter is watchful around him - there’s a shadow in the back of her eyes like she’s just waiting for him to disappoint her. And he can’t do that again, he  _ can’t _ .

So it’s not that Jack thinks that Angel won’t like Rhys, or that Rhys won’t like her. Rhys  _ wants _ to know Angel, and Jack knows that Angel would like Rhys, with his endearing awkwardness  and his dorky sense of humor.

And that’s the crux of the problem, really - Jack thinks that Angel would like Rhys  _ too  _ well, and would tell Rhys to get out while the getting’s good. Or that she’d tell Jack to break it off before he screws things up.

Angel is mature beyond her years (and again,  _ whose fault is that _ ) and a good judge of character. Those blue eyes see right through him, and she is (has had to  _ become _ ) too smart for Jack’s particular brand of bullshit. 

(Jack doesn’t know if he can stand it if Angel tells him he’s not good enough for Rhys, because deep down in his heart he knows that she’d be right.)

“Jack?” Rhys’s voice breaks him out of  _ that _ particular spiral, and Jack can’t help but be grateful even as he wants to escape this conversation. “You okay in there?” He’s frowning at the can in Jack’s hand, and looking down Jack realizes that it’s dented beneath his grip.

“I’m fine,” Jack says automatically, moving to dump what’s left of the soda down the drain. Not too long ago this is where he would have reached for something stronger because this is  _ excruciating _ , but he knows where that road leads him and he’s not going back. He hears Rhys sigh behind him.

“Yeah, you look real fine.” When Jack turns back around Rhys is leaning against the counter, arms folded. “Look, if you don’t want to introduce me just say so-”

“It’s not that.” Jack cuts him off, because how could Rhys even think that? Rhys raises his eyebrows at him, and the unspoken  _ then what is it?  _ is so loud it practically echoes between them. Rhys stands there silently, in his soft sweater with his eyes wide and guileless, and he  _ doesn’t know what he is asking,  _ and Jack feels his resolve crumbling.

“Fine,” Jack says, and he can’t help the tightness in his voice. “But if this goes south don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 

* * *

 

Jack doesn’t have very many weekends with Angel. He hadn’t been lying when he said her schedule was busy; she’s involved in so many extracurriculars he can’t keep track, and when she’s not volunteer tutoring or striking fear into the hearts of the opposing volleyball team she’s studying. Almost done with high school, with colleges crawling over each other to make her an offer - he’s so proud of her he doesn’t know what to do with himself. 

His little girl is almost all grown up, and when did that happen? ( _ Where were you when that happened,  _ says a little voice inside of him, and Jack shoves it down with practiced efficiency.)

He knows his ex-wife wants him to  _ do _ more with Angel - take her out places, have “experiences” - and he tries, he really does, but these days Angel is more interested in finishing her calculus homework than going to the amusement park. He doesn’t have it in him to make her go out somewhere when she’s happy at his dining room table, textbooks spread out and one foot kicking idly while he putters in the kitchen, cleaning up from lunch.

That’s how Rhys find them when he lets himself in, Angel plowing through logarithmic functions and Jack loading the dishwasher. It’s incredibly domestic, and Jack feels abruptly self-conscious when he sees the way Rhys is looking at him, warm and smiling.

Then Rhys turns that smile on his daughter, who is inspecting Rhys keenly. “You must be Angel,” and Jack kicks himself into action and makes introductions. Rhys puts his hand on a chair back and looks a question at Angel; she nods and he takes a seat next to her, and that’s it, this is happening and there’s no taking it back now.

It turns out that Rhys has a head for logarithms, and as Jack puts the last few glasses in the top rack he watches Rhys point at one of the problems on Angel’s paper and trace something in the air with his hands. Angel’s eyes catch on Rhys’ right hand, and when Rhys sees where she’s looking, his face loses some of its animation and he pulls his arm back closer to his body. Angel eyes him thoughtfully, then hands him her pencil and pushes her paper toward him. He takes it hesitantly, but at her encouraging nod he bends his head close to hers again, sketching something out on the paper between them.

As Jack dries his hands on a towel, listening to the occasional giggle or baritone murmur, he wonders how he was ever afraid of this. Watching Rhys and Angel’s heads bent together at his table feels like something slotting into place, and Jack wants to hold his breath, to hold on to this moment before it ends.

Then Rhys looks up and catches his eyes, fond and  _ at home _ , and Jack lets himself think for the first time that maybe this doesn’t  _ have _ to end.

Rhys stays for dinner, which Jack cooks. Rhys offers to help, and Jack puts him to work prepping the vegetables which he is, much to Jack’s dismay, miserable at.

“No no no, those all all different sizes - what, have you never held a knife before?”

“I- of course I have,” Rhys splutters. “Does it matter? They’re just going in the pan, right?” He frowns down at his mismatched carrots.

“They’re just going in the - aw jeez, you’re killing me here.” Jack throws up his hands in exaggerated disgust when he catches Angel laughing at them. “Come on Angel, tell him how wrong he is.”

“If they’re not the same size they’ll cook unevenly,” Angel says, pushing her hair behind her ear and grinning. “Then you get crunchy  _ and _ mushy, all in the same bite.”

Rhys makes a face, but he goes back to cutting down the larger pieces. “This is why I buy things pre-cut.”

“Pre- _ cut _ \- that’s it, get out of my house,” but Jack is sliding an arm around Rhys’ waist and fitting himself against Rhys’ back. Rhys tries to fend him off with a “hey, I’m working here,” but he doesn’t try very hard, and Jack rests his chin on Rhys’ shoulder to supervise.

He catches Angel watching them. She doesn’t look upset with him, and she doesn’t look like she’s about to tell Rhys to run for the hills either - she looks happy, content in a way Jack wants to frame and hang up, and somehow the moment where she asks Jack what he thinks he’s doing never comes.

After dinner, when Rhys has left and Jack and Angel are moving around each other in the kitchen cleaning up, he nudges her gently with his elbow because he  _ has  _ to know. “So, Rhys. He’s pretty alright, right?”

“Yeah, he’s alright,” Angel says, and Jack is about to take offense on Rhys’ behalf when he realizes she’s laughing at him. He puffs up in mock umbrage anyway, just to see her giggle, but deflates a bit when she sobers.

“You know I can’t tell you what to do with your life, dad, but-” Jack’s stomach drops all at once, because here it comes. “I think you should keep him.”

“Look, I can - wait, what?”

Angel rolls her eyes at him. “ _ Keep _ him. He’s obviously good for you. It’s about time, really.”

Jack just stares because this is really not how he thought this conversation was going to go, and Angel huffs at him.

“Anyway.” Angel lifts herself on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Just think about it,” and then she’s off to the guest bedroom in a swirl of black hair. Jack stands where he is, looking after her.

Keep him, huh?

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at [ThirtySixSaveFiles](http://thirtysixsavefiles.tumblr.com) on Tumblr!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Angel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6581431) by [argentumlupine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/argentumlupine/pseuds/argentumlupine)




End file.
